Compact office filing cabinet

ABSTRACT

A filing cabinet comprising a plurality of vertically spaced, substantially horizontal shelves, each shelf having no lip on the front edge. On each shelf there is provided a plurality of separators, each of which is affixed to the shelf and the vertical backing by welding or by similar means, whereby a stiff substantially rigid structure is obtained without the necessity of the lip on the front edge.

United States Patent Inventor Philip Frederick Brooklyn, NY. 864,071

Oct. 6, 1969 Dec. 7, 1971 Supreme Equipment & Systems Corp.

App]. No. Filed Patented Assignee COMPACT OFFICE FILING CABINET 6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

U.S. C1 312/198 Int. Cl A47b 53/00 Field of Search 312/198,

Primary Examiner-Patrick D. Lawson Attorneys-Harry C. Bierman, Jordan B. Bierman and Bierman & Bierman ABSTRACT: A filing cabinet comprising a plurality of vertically spaced, substantially horizontal shelves, each shelf having no lip on the front edge. On each shelf there is provided a plurality ofseparators, each of which is affixed to the shelf and the vertical backing by welding or by similar means, whereby a stiff substantially rigid structure is obtained without the necessity of the lip on the front edge.

PATENTEDDEC mm 3525 5831 saw 2 nr 2 COMPACT OFFICE FILING CABINET The present invention relates to an improved form of office filing cabinet.

shelves;

FIG. 4 is a section along line 4-4 of FIG. 3; and FIG. 5 is a partial section along line 5--5 of FIG. 3. A filing cabinet I is made up of a plurality of shelves 2. Each In recent years there has been an increasing proliferation of 5 shelf 2 has an upstanding back 3, and preferably a pair of uppaper work required of all business operations. As a result, the amount of material to be filed, both permanently and temporarily, has similarly increased. At the same time, the cost of office space has also gone substantially above levels of even a very few years ago.

Because of the foregoing factors, an increasing need for storing more documents in less space has developed. The present invention isintended to help satisfy that need.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide an office filing cabinet of simple construction which is capable of bold ing more documents in the same space than prior art cabinets.

It is also among the objects of this invention to provide an office filing cabinet of rigid and solid construction by the use of a new and novel stiffening means.

It is further among the objects of this invention to provide an office filing cabinet which will afford up to percent more capacity than conventional units in the same space.

In a standard prior art filing cabinet, it has been found necessary to secure stiffness of the structure by providing a downtumed lip on the front edge of each shelf. This lip is often as much as 1-92 inches or 2 inches in depth. Obviously, this space is wasted, since the opening through which the files can be inserted is reduced by this amount. Therefore, in order to take a 12 inch file, it is necessary that the actual shelves be 14 inches apart.

The present invention eliminates this downtumed lip and secures stiffening by an entirely different means altogether. More specifically, the cabinet of the present invention uses vertical separators spaced-apart horizontally on each shelf. The use of such separators as such has been known for many years. However, it has been found that if these separators are spot welded, or otherwise affixed to the shelf and the vertical back thereof, they will provide the necessary stiffening of the thin sheet metal shelf.

As a result, the space formerly occupied by the downtumed lip is now fully available for normal filing operations, and it is now possible to space the shelves closer together than could ever be done heretofore. Thus, a nine tier unit manufactured in accordance with the present invention will stand only as high as a seven tier conventional unit, thus effecting approximately 25 percent saving in space.

In the accompanying drawings constituting a part hereof, in which like reference characters indicate like parts,

FIG. 1 is an exploded schematic view in perspective of the cabinet of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view showing one of the separators;

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a complete cabinet having 3 standing sides 4. Sides 4, back '3, and shelf 2 are secured together at their edges to form cradle 8 in the customary manner. Alternatively. sides 4 and back 3 can be integral in a wrap-around" form.

Shelf 2 is provided with at least one separator 5 which preferably has bottom flange II and vertical flange l2. Bottom flange 11 is affixed to shelf 2, preferably by spot welding at 10, and vertical flange 12 is affixed to back 3, preferably by spot welding at 13. Of course, other known means of affixing separator 5 to shelf 2 and back 3 may be used. However, it has been found most convenient to spot weld as heretofore described.

Optionally, cradle 8 may be provided with closure 9 which may also be provided with a look, if desired[ The foregoing cabinet has been found to require no bracing, so that it can be easily taken down and set up in the field.

Moreover, the invention permits the manufacture of this cabinet in truly modular form, so that the purchaser may stack as many shelves as he finds convenient.

Although only a limited number of specific embodiments of the present invention have been described, the invention is nonetheless to be broadly considered and not to be limited except by the character of the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

l. A filing cabinet comprising a plurality of substantially horizontal, vertically spaced-apart shelves, each shelf having a front edge, a rear edge and side edges, a back affixed to an upstanding from said rear edge, a side affixed to and upstanding from each of said side edges, said shelf, said back and said sides forming a cradle for the support of files, a plurality of separators each afiixed to said shelf and said back, whereby said separators stiffen said cradle, there being no lip on said front edge.

2. A cabinet according to claim 1 wherein said separators are spot welded to said shelf and said back.

3. A cabinet according to claim 1 wherein said shelf has at least four separators.

4. A cabinet according to claim 1 wherein said separators are each provided with an inturned bottom flange and an inturned back vertical flange, said separator being affixed to said shelf by said bottom flange and to said back by said vertical flange.

5. A cabinet according to claim 4 wherein said bottom flange and said vertical flange are spot welded to said shelf and said back, respectively.

6. A cabinet according to claim 1 wherein said cradle is provided with a front closure. 

1. A filing cabinet comprising a plurality of substantially horizontal, vertically spaced-apart shelves, each shelf having a front edge, a rear edge and side edges, a back affixed to and upstanding from said rear edge, a side affixed to and upstanding from each of said side edges, said shelf, said back and said sides forming a cradle for the support of files, a plurality of separators each affixed to said shelf and said back, whereby said separators stiffen said cradle, there being no lip on said front edge.
 2. A cabinet according to claim 1 wherein said separators are spot welded to said shelf and said back.
 3. A cabinet according to claim 1 wherein said shelf has at least four separators.
 4. A cabinet according to claim 1 wherein said separators are each provided with an inturned bottom flange and an inturned back vertical flange, said separator being affixed to said shelf by said bottom flange and to said back by said vertical flange.
 5. A cabinet according to claim 4 wherein said bottom flange and said vertical flange are spot welded to said shelf and said back, respectively.
 6. A cabinet according to claim 1 wherein said cradle is provided with a front closure. 